Earth Day….It is Dark Up There!
Its close enough to April Fool’s Day for me to have considered this a joke….if it wasn’t for the fact that this stuff is so stupid and even dangerous. Let me elaborate.
Earth Day Darkness on Saturday night at 8 p.m. found me in, what my friend and colleague so aptly names, “The Great Satan”. I was there to tape an episode of “Test the Nation: Canadian Eh?” Seems on air meteorologists were the fodder for this part of the series at the CBC (also named by others as the Canadian Broadcorping Castration, but that’s for another blog). As it was, I happened to be dining out at Renaissance Hotel, part of what used to be called the Skydome, now the Rogers Centre, (the name should ring a bell) as 8 pm rolled around. The restaurant in the hotel looks out on to the field which was hosting a motocross competition, churning up hydrocarbons in the name of sport, entertainment and fun, while the oblivious rednecked, infantile, baseball capped throngs cheered and roared with each jump and circling of this modern colosseum. All that was missing was a little more gore and an emperor or two.
As I was munching on my pizza and looking out into the massive covered ediface/playing field of the Centre, Nelly Furtado was twanging away for yet another celebrity concert, to bandwagon her star to the climate change, let’s do something public, which will have no impact whatsoever, make a statement, and at the same time make a bucket full ‘o’ cash, crowd. By the way, if you pick up any cynicism, you must be reading something between the lines. Gag me with a Pizza! As I sat there, the lights dimmed at 8 and the candles were fired up. I asked myself, how on Earth do lighting candles mitigate the use of energy? If anything they do a greater energy disservice to the planet than does electricity!
When I expressed my chagrin at the uselessness of all this western posturing, I was politely informed that it was a symbolic gesture. I replied perhaps a boycott of our consumer ways or a week of eating only foods that aren’t shipped across the globe and originate closer to home would have not only been more symbolic, but actually might have had a positive effect.
Spare me the symbolism. Its rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We are way past gestures on this planet. We must DO something. We need solutions not rhetoric and symbolism. Changing light bulbs, banning plastic bags for groceries or doing a concert by yet another celebrity will do nothing or worse, make people think they have actually done something. Its like confession on Sundays. Sin the whole week and absolve for a few minutes with your local God rep and all is right in the world and your soul. If only it was so easy…..and if I see another candle……..!
April 21st, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Want to protect the earth and save energy? Then stop all wars, conflicts and terrorism. How do you do that? Make the United States free of foreign oil. When the US is energy independent there will be no more oil wars and the terrorists will no longer be able or interested in reaching us. This will save lives AND energy. Let’s study what Denmark, France, Brazil, and Australia have done on diversifying their energy supplies and do likewise. Let’s drill wherever we have oil and put a new nuclear power plant in every state. Let’s use all our coal and natural gas. We don’t need foreign energy. And we will be safer, greener, and richer with out it. All of the earth’s natural resources will be eventually used by someone at some time. Would your rather these resources be recovered in an ecological friendly and sustainable way by the US or that some dictator who could not care less about the environment exploit the earth. All alternative sources of energy will take decades to bring online because their conversion efficiencies are not yet high enough. Eventually, the US will lead the world into a sustainable green economy, but energy independence comes first. It is the low hanging fruit and gives immediate benefits now.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
These “gestures” are kind of like training wheels on a bicycle: we’re just wobbling along trying to get used to doing something new… while heading towards the Autobahn. Environmental change is well underway, yet we’re still trying to wrap our heads around the idea of sorting our garbage.
Today is Earth Day. I marked the occassion by selling trees…. and trying to get my colleagues to use ceramic mugs at their coffee break instead of disposable paper cups… Do you think tomorrow they’ll use ceramic mugs or back to the throw-aways…?
Maybe I’m just picking up on your cynicism, but I just get the feeling that by the time we get those training wheels off & figure out what we’re supposed to be doing, it will be too late.